Winthrop 
Normal and Industrial College 

South Carolina 



Bulletin No. 2. SEPTEMBER 1910 



Volume 4, 



Suggestions for Rural 
Schools 




Rock Hill, South Carolina 



luiicd Q«i«rterly by the CoUcgtt. Etiter«d as Secoad-CIs«s Matter, October 4, 
1910, at the Postoffice at Rock HUt, under Act of Confess of July 6, 1894 






BULLETIN 

OF THE 

Winthrop 
Normal and Industrial College 

OF 

South Carolina 

Bulletin No. 2. SEPTEMBER 1910 Volume IV. 

Suggestions for Rural Schools 

By 
Miss Leila Russell 

County Supervisor of Elementary 
Rural Schools 




THE LONDON PRINTERY. ROCK HILL, S C 



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INTRODUCTORY 



The importance of school supervision is recognized 
everywhere. That the best schools are found in our towns 
and cities is due largely to the fact that they have had 
close professional supervision. In urban ' communities 
this has been easily supplied; but the schools of our rural 
districts, unlike those of our towns and cities, are widely 
separated: in one county moveover, they number as 
many as one hundred or one hundred and fifty; yet the 
entire burden of supervision has been placed on the should- 
ers of the county Superintendent of education. 

This i3 clearly one of the weakest points in our com- 
mon school system; and it is a matter of much thankful- 
ness that it has been made possible, through the generosity 
of the Peabody Board and Winthrop college for York 
county to have a supervisor of elementary rural schools. 
To do the most effective work, however, it is necessary 
for the supervisor to have the hearty co-operation of coun- 
ty superintendent, trustees, teachers, and parents. 

This little bulletin, containing a few practical sugges- 
tions to those laboring in rural schools, is sent forth, 
therefore, with the hope that it w^ill be found helpful both 
directly to teachers, and also in the more important mat- 
ter of bringing about this co-operation. 



OPENING EXERCISES 



Opening exercises, if properly conducted, can he made 
■very helpful to the pupils. The few minutes that begin 
the day's work may be used to create strong impressions 
that will tend to the formation of noble character. Truths 
and right principles may be so presented day after day 
that at last they will permeate the spiritual and moral 
being of the pupils and make of them better men and 
women. 

These exercises should be planned definitely for each 
day. Memory gems may be used that will aid in charac- 
ter building, and give the teacher an opportunity to im- 
press upon his pupils the fact that 

* 'A31 are architects of fate 
Working in these walls of time." 

The following quotations suggest a number of channels 
along which this work of character formation may be 
directed: 

The child is father of the man — Wordsivctth. 

No man can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourself. 

— Emerson. 

Work wields the weapon of power, wins the palm of success, 
and wears the crown of victory. — Pierson, 

Have an aim in life or all your energies will be wasted. 

-M. C. Peters. 

He who follows two hares is sure to catch neither. — Franklin, 

Two or three mornings spent in learning a Fsalm or 
telling a Bible story is one of the best ways to use this 
period. 

One morning each week could be spent profitably on 
picture study, reproductions of the masterpieces being 
selected for this purpose. These may be had for a few 
cents from the Perry Pictures Company, Maiden, Massa- 
chusetts, or the Cosmos Company of New York. 

Certain seasons of the year afford material for open- 
ing exercises. During the month of November the his- 
tory of Thanksgiving would occupy several mornings. It 



should be shown that the Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, 
and the English observed a harvest festival, but that 
America instituted the Thanksgiving as we know it. The 
November "Plan Book" for intermediate and grammar 
grades gives m.uch information on this subject. 

It is a good plan to spend the time once a week study- 
ing some great man or woman. 

To set aside one morning for a discussion of current 
events will stimulate newspaper and magazine reading. 




SEAT WORK 



Teachers often feel the need of more suitable seat- 
work or busy work, as some term it. It is necessary to 
provide such work for children who do not know how to 
study, not simply that they maybe occupied, but that the 
work of the recitation periods may be strengthened. 
Mere aimless employment for the sake of passing away 
the time must not be allowed in the school room. Any 
seat work that is given must have a definite purpose. 
Unless this work is planned to meet the needs of the chil- 
dren and comes as an active supplement to the work out- 
lined by the daily or weekly program it is mere nonsense 
to give it to them, and they had better be out in the open 
air. The moment a thing is taught, that moment the 
children may be given educational busy work. 

The following suggestions have been found helpful. 

1. Have the children bring in acorns, peas, corn, nuts, 
spools, and broom-straw to be used in counting. Have a 
box of shoe pegs and tooth-picks. Children of the first 
and second grades may be asked to cut broom-straws into 
one-inch lengths, two-inch lengths, three-inch lengths, 
and so on to six-inch lengths. 

2. Make a railroad across the desk using the six-inch 
straws for rails, and the two-inch straws for ties. Count 
the number of rails, the number of ties, the number of 
inches in the length of the railroad. 

3. Place the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, etc., on the black- 
board. Let the children copy these numbers, and, using 
shoe pegs, place the required number of pegs by each 
figure. 

4. Use tooth-picks and build a pig pen six, eight, or 
ten rails high. Count the number of picks used in the 
pen. 

5. Place a drawing of a fence on the board and have 
children use broom-straws to build it on their desks. Count 
the posts. Count the planks. Other pictures may be 
drawn and used the same way. 



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6. Soak the corn and have the children string it. If 
you can secure a red ear, the pupils cO'uld be asked to string- 
two white ones and a red one, or three white ones and a 
red one. 

Write the words that the pupils have learned on pieces 
of Manilla tag paper and put in envelopes, one envelope 
for each child. Write sentences on the boai-d and let 
class form them from the words in the envelope. Copy 
the sentences. 

8. Draw and color autumn leaves. 

Write or print the names of your pupils on large pieces 
of card board and let the children cover these names 
with shoe pegs. 

10. Number combinations can be given to children, 
such as 2 f 3 =, and answers may be fitted, these answers 
to be found on slips of paper distributed at the same time 
the combinations were given out. 

11. Give the children slips of paper on which there 
are a number of drawings. Have the children write the 
correct names by each drawing. The reverse order, giv- 
ing words and having drawings made, forms good seat 
work. 

12. Write sentences, cut them into groups of words, 
distribute, and have the children form the sentences. 



HINTS FOR ORAL LANGUAGE WORK 



The object of all language work in our schools is to 
train the children in the correct usage of their mother 
tongue. This includes both oral and written expression, 
but in the primary grades there should be a predominance 
of oral work. These are the years when children are 
forming habits of speech. There are numerous errors 
made by pupils that can be corrected only by daily drills 
on the correct forms. One often hears "done" for "did", 
'"went" for "gone, " "taken" for "took,", etc. If chil- 
dren repeated day after day such sentences as; — I took 
the basket, Mary took the basket, You took the basket, 
and I have taken the basket, Mary has taken the basket. 
You have taken the basket, they would not continue to 
make the mistake of using "taken" for "took". Correct 
oral expressions will do much to give us correct written 
expressions. One English period each week spent in 
drilling on correct usage of words that pupils misuse will 
aid in the formation of correct habits of speech. The 
following game may be of some service as a drill: 

Have the children stand in two rows facing each other. 
Each side chooses a champion and sends him to the foot 
of the opposing row. Each child is given a number. The 
leader begins, "My book is torn. Who did it?" Then 
calls a number and rapidly counts "1,2, 3, 4, 5". The 
pupil whose number is called, responds, "I did" or "Mary 
did it," and asks the question as before, calling another 
number from the opposing row. If the answer is not 
given before five is counted, the child who misses goes to 
the foot. The side whose champion reaches the headfirst 
wins the game. Many incorrect forms may be corrected 
in a similar way. 

Children enjoy telling incidents that have come within 
their experience. It is well to suggest the character of 
the incident they are to relate, say, for example, an ac- 
count of the most amusing situation in which they have 
been placed, or the most alarming one, etc. An occasion- 



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al English period spent in this way is a profitable one. 

CDnversation lessons on some subject of interest to the 
pupils form valuable language exercises. Take for in- 
stance a conversation on pets. Each child very probably 
has a dog, a cat, a pony, or perhaps, a baby brother or 
sister to pet. The subject could be dealt with under the 
following heads, and others may be added: What the 
pet is; description of it; how cared for — its food, its bed; 
what it does for you; what you think of it. 

If the children have been to a circus, a party, or on a 
nutting trip, this experience would furnish material for a 
conversation lesson. 

The story is a basis for a large part of oral language 
work. Telling a story well is an accomplishment that all 
teachers of primary grades must cultivate. The season, 
the work in geography, or history will often suggest the 
story to be used. While studying the corn, for example, 
one very naturally recalls the story of the gift of the 
corn as given in "Hiawatha's Fasting." First, second, 
third and even fourth year classes will be interested in 
this. The story of Ceres suggests itself also as winter 
approaches, as does that of The Sleeping Beauty. At 
the time of Hallowe'en the Brownies and fairies come 
into one's mind. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR ORAL GEOGRAPHY 



As this is the harvest season, a study of cotton could 
be made. The following are suggestive outlines: 

COTTON 

Material: 

Cotton stalks having green and open bolls, if possible. 
Specimens of cotton seed, cotton seed meal, cotton seed oil, 
and cotton seed hulls, thread and cloth. 

Description of the plant: 

Stem — woody — brown 
Leaves--short, broad and pointed. 
Roots— taps. 
Blossoms and Squares. 

( Lint 
Bolls - 

( Seed 

Cultivation: 

Preparation of soil— Planting the seed. 

Plowing and hoeing. 

When and how harvested. Price paid for picking. 

Amount a rnan can pick in a day. How much he can make. 

Amount of cotton produced en an acre. 

Where grown: 

Countries — Climate. 

Separating seed and lint: 

Old way — By hand. 
New way — Gin. 

( Bagging 
Baling < 

( Ties 
Amount of seed cotton necessary for bale. 
Weight of bale. 
Weight of seed. 

Marketing: 

Price. 

Warshouse. 

i Cars 
Shipping < 

i Boat 

Factories. 

Compress — Why and where. 

How many bales a car will hold— a ship. 



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Uses: 

Cloth, 

1 Lint I Thread, 

Products -D 

I Paper, 

i Filling for mattresses quilts, etc. 

2 Stalk i Paper, 

Products •! 

f Fertilizer. 

3 Seed \ Oil, 

Products i Meal. 
I Hulls. 
[ Fertilizer 

Uses of seed products: 

Oil — For man^for machinery. 
Meal and hulls— food for animals. 

How seed are pi' e pared: 

Ginning, separating hulls and kernels. 

Grinding kernels, cooking and crushing meal for oil. 

I Crude 
Oil- 

( Refined 

Comparison of cotton and corn: 

CORN 

Why called Indian corn. 

Real Indian corn was popcorn. How changed. 

Where it grows: 

Climate 

Soil — upland or valleys— bottoms. 

When and how planted: 

How farrows are apart. How far seed are apart. 

Description of plant: 

Height. 

Stalk — pith — fiber — joints. 

i Furnish food for plant. 
Roots — fibrous— two uses-: 

f Serve as a prop. 

Leaves — sheath — blade. 
i Tassels— pollen. 

Blossoms: ■] 

( Ear-silk. 
When and how harvested. 
Amount prodiiced on an acre. 
Uses: 

Stalk. 

Leaves. 

Ears. 



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( Hopper. 
The mill\ Millstones. 
( Sifting. 

Products: 

Kernels 

Meal 

Hominy 

Whiskey and beer 

Ensilage. 

Marketing: 

Price of products. 

Commerce: 

i Cars. 
Shipping - 

( Boat. 

The change of seasons affords material for lessons in 
oral geography. Take for example the preparation made 
for winter by man, bird, beast, plants and insects. 

As suggested elsewhere, this oral work in geography 
can be used as a basis for much written work in English. 



THE RURAL SCHOOL EXHIBITION 



It is planned to have an exhibit of rural school work 
in each of the townships in York county next spring, 
then to have these exhibits sent to Winthrop College 
where a county exhibit will be made during the college 
commencement. Some prizes will be offered for the best 
exhibits. 

There is nothing that will bring more life into school 
work than having the pupils put their ideas into some 
tangible form of expression. The day of static education 
has passed. In the study of geography, for example, the 
activity of the pupils should find expression in making 
relief maps of paper pulp, or of flour and salt, in drawing 
maps showing political divisions, and making maps show- 
ing productions. The principle of activity, such as is in- 
dicated above, can be applied not only in geography, but 
in almost every branch of study taught in the com.mon 
schools. 



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The best work of the pupils should be saved for this 
exhibit. These exercises must be placed on paper 9x12 
inches in size and then mounted on cardboard of uniform 
size. The dealers in Rock Hill, Yorkville, Fort Mill and 
Clover have been asked to keep the supplies necessary 
for this exhibit. 

It is hoped that there will be a strong variety of 
work represented. Correlate the work in English with 
that of geography. If, for example, the lessons on cot- 
ton and its products suggested elsewhere, are given, the 
English could be based on the work done on this sub- 
ject, compositions could be written and illustrated with 
drawings or pictures, and these formed into a booklet. 
The formation of a cotton chart, showing the plant and 
all its products, would be interesting. 

Problems in arithmetic based on the actual experiences 
of a neighboring farmer will not only arouse interest 
among the pupils, but will show the practical side of 
school room. work. 

Most of the pupils in our schools are the children of 
farmers. The subject of agriculture v/ill demand the at- 
tention of by far the greater part of them throughout 
their lives. Our country needs to be developed agricul- 
turally, and the work of the school should be such that it 
will stimulate agriculture. Wherever it is possible — and 
it is possible in most schools— Corn Clubs and Tomato 
Clubs should be organized among the pupils. The work 
in connection with these organizations will furnish ma- 
terial for work in English, arithmetic, etc. 



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BULLETINS AND BOOKS 



The following is a list of bulletins and books that will 
be found helpful. The bulletins may be secured free of 
charge from the Secretary of Agriculture, Agricultural 
Department, Washington, D. C. 

No. 28." Weeds and How to Kill them. 

No. 36. Cotton seed and its Products. 

No. 48. The Manuring of Cotton. 

No. 302. Sea Island Cotton: Its Culture, Improve- 
ment, and Diseases. 

No. 314. A Method of Breeding Early Cotton to Es- 
cape Boll-weevil Damage. 

No. 326. Building up a Run-down Cotton Plantation. 

No. 81. Corn Culture in the South. 

No. 99. Insect Enemies of Shade Trees. 

No. 110. Rice Culture in the United States. 

No. 134. Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds. 

No. 218. The School Garden. 

No. 185. Beautifying the Home Grounds. 

No. 220. Tomatoes. 

No. 229. The Production of Good Seed Corn. 

No. 253. The Germination of Seed Corn. 

No. 255. The Home Vegetable Garden. 

No. 256. Preparation of Vegetables for the Table. 

No. 257. Soil Fertility. 

No. 258. Texas or Tick Fever and its Prevention. 

No. 266. Management of Soils to Conserve Moisture. 

No. 270. Modern Conveniences for the Farm Home. 

No. 313. Harvesting and Storing corn. 

No. 324. Sweet Potatoes. 

No. 345. Some Common Disinfectants. 

No. 348. Bacteria in Milk. 

No. 349. The Dairy Industry in the South. 

No. 409. School Lessons on Corn. 

No. 408. School Exercises in Plant Production. 

No. 356. Peanuts. 

No. 359. Canning Vegetables in the Home. 



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No. 364. A Profitable Cotton Farm. 

No. 389. Bread and Bread Making. 

"The Plan Book— With Scissors and Paste," by Grace 
Goodridge, published by A. Flanagan, Chicago, 111. 

"Robinson Crusoe," by Lida B. McMurray, published 
by Public School Publishing Co., Bloomington, 111. 

"Stories Every Child Should Know," by Hamilton W. 
Mabie, published by Doubleday, Page & Co. 

"Asgard Stories," by Mary Foster, published by Silver, 
Burdett & Co. , New York. 

"How We are Clothed," by Chamberlain. 

"How We are Fed, " by Chamberlain, publishedby Mac- 
millan&Co., New York. 

Carpenter's Geographical Readers in five volumes. 

Champlin's Young Folks' Encyclopedia of Literature 
and Art. 

Champlin's Young Folks' Encyclopedia of Persons 
and Places. 

Champlin's Young Folks' Encyclopedia of Common 
Things. 

"Golden Hours"— A collection of poems, by Wiggins 
and Smith. 

(All these books may be ordered from The Baker and 
Taylor Company, New York. ) 

The Plan Book for Intermediate and Grammar Grades, 
published by A. Flanagan, Chicago, 111. 



